by Lily Thomas
“What’s all that blue, on what I’m assuming is land?”
“The leaves of the trees are a bluish color.”
Anara looked over at him. He almost had a dreamy look to his face, like he’d been longing to come back to Vrak at some point in his life. She couldn’t wait to start her life with him, and she prayed his home would still be there waiting for him.
Chapter 7
Rauhq pulled their car like vehicle up in front of an enormous house.
“This is your home?”
He nodded.
“Damn…” She couldn’t imagine living in such luxury. Here she’d thought living in the arena had provided a good life. “What were you guys? Royalty or something?”
Rauhq gave a slight chuckle. “No, my father was a general, and here on Vrak a good general is paid well.”
“Did you follow in his footsteps?”
“I did, but soon after, my family was killed.”
“Do you mind if I ask why this Jaxyhr killed your family?”
“The Vrak’rir had civil unrest at one point, and my father was the general who over saw the killing of the rebel leaders. Jaxyhr’s father was one such leader.”
“Ah.” It made sense now why this man might have it out for Rauhq’s family. “Why not kill your father and call it even?”
Rauhq shrugged, as he helped her out of the car and led her to the house. “I have no idea.”
Her heart went out to him. His father had done the bidding of the government only to have his family slaughtered for his service.
“How come the Vrak’rir government hasn’t done anything?”
“If they can’t find him, then they can’t do anything, but if I find him I will kill him.”
“Won’t that make you a wanted man?”
“On Vrak you can request a man’s head.”
“Do I want to know what that means?”
“Murder is still illegal here, but you can go before a High Council and request permission for someone’s head.”
“They allow that?” Maybe she didn’t want to raise a family on Vrak.
“You must have a valid reason, like someone slaughtering your entire family, and even then it is given deep consideration. But if Jaxyhr learns I’m back on Vrak, he might come after me, and then I will be within my rights to kill him.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“You will have a long time to get adjusted to the new way of life. For now, don’t worry about it.”
Anara would follow his advice, for now, but as soon as they were settled here, she was grabbing a book of laws on Vrak. She didn’t want to wind up dead because of a law she wasn’t familiar with.
Rauhq stopped at the front door, and she placed a hand on his arm. “Are you ready? If this is too soon, we could always get a hotel room for the night.”
“No.” He placed his hand on a hand scanner by the door.
The door swung open, and they entered. At first it was too dark for her to see anything, but once he activated the lights the home stole her breath away. He was raised here?
“It’s breathtaking.” Anara took in the sweeping staircase and the vaulted ceilings. To think while he was being raised here, she was scraping out a living where ever she could, yet they’d both found their way to the Friren arena.
“It will be once there is life here.” He turned his eyes to her and placed a hand fondly over her stomach.
Anara couldn’t wait to dust off all the furniture and get the house in order. Imagine it, she was going to have a place to call home sweet home finally! It was more than just amazing.
She pushed up her sleeves. “Let’s get working then.”
Rauhq held her back. “I will hire maids to clean the house.”
“Nonsense we can do this.” Anara brushed past him, then stopped to turn back to him. “Although we will need cleaning supplies.”
It had been a pleasant few months, and now Anara’s stomach was bulging with the new life she was carrying inside her.
“I’ll be back later tonight.” Rauhq leaned down and gave her a kiss, while they stood in the doorway.
“Sounds good. We’ll be waiting for you when you come home.” Anara smiled up at him.
“I’ll send word, if I’m going to be late.” He waved, as he left for the car like thing. It was just an alien car, but a lot sleeker, and she still had no idea what fuel source it used.
Anara waved back and then closed the door. The house had been dusted and cleaned until everything shined. Against her wishes Rauhq had hired house maids, but after some time, Anara was glad for their presence, because when he was gone this house could just be too much. It also spared her from some of the house work, which was a lot more than she’d expected.
“Anything you need?” A Vrak’rir woman came up to her.
“No. I think I’ll get some rest.”
“I will bring you a snack then.”
“There’s no…” But the woman was already gone down a hallway. “Guess I’ll have a snack.”
She made her way to their room, closed the door, and climbed into the bed. It felt so good to be off her feet. This baby was taking a lot out of her, and she ate almost non-stop. She was like a black hole with her hunger.
A knock came at her door. “Come in!”
“Here is your snack.”
“Thank you. You can just put it on the nightstand for me.”
The Vrak’rir woman placed the snack down and then left the room. Finally, some peace and quiet for her to rest her aching feet.
A hand wrapped around her mouth, and her eyes popped open to see a Vrak’rir man standing over her. Fear struck her muscles immobile, as she stared up at the man above her.
Then her fighting instinct kicked in. Anara let loose a punch and struck the Vrak’rir in the face. As he let go of her mouth, she bit down on his hand causing a roar to erupt from his mouth.
Flinging herself off the bed she flew to the door of her bedroom, but didn’t make it far as the Vrak’rir wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her away from the door. Anara tried to whip her head back to nail him in the face, but missed. His hand wrapped over her mouth again, as something sharp was pressed into her neck.
Her vision faded to black.
Rauhq strode into the house. He was later than he thought he’d be, and he wanted to find Anara. He needed to have her in his arms again and to tell her the good news. The counsel had granted him permission to hunt down Jaxyhr.
With Jaxyhr out of the way, there would be nothing left for them to worry about. The counsel had also given Rauhq his position as general back. Now he could follow in his father’s footsteps and provide his mate and child a good life.
“Where is she?” Rauhq asked the moment he stepped into the house.
One of the maids stepped forward to take his coat. “Last time I saw her was in your room taking a nap.”
Rauhq took the stairs two at a time, as his heart thundered in his chest. He wanted to kiss her stomach, and then shower her with a night of passion.
Busting into the room he glanced around. The bed was rumpled but empty and the bathroom held no sign of her. There was some food by the bed side, but it was untouched. Where was she?
He glanced out a bedroom window to see if she might be in the garden, but she wasn’t in view, if she was out there.
He made his way back downstairs where he found the maids readying dinner. “Anara isn’t upstairs. Have you seen her somewhere else?”
The maids looked at one another and shook their heads.
They’d be no help then. Rauhq made his way outside, but found no sight of her. It wasn’t like her to wander away when he was away. She was still new to Vrak and wanted to stay close to their home.
It was time for him to get the authorities involved. He’d lost his mate… He felt shame, but he needed to find her. He still had an enemy, and he didn’t like having her out of his sight.
He made his way back inside the house and went to a computer cons
ole, but before he could even activate the communications a message came through. Clicking on it, he opened it, and an image of Anara came through.
“What the…”
Then the camera shifted, and Jaxyhr appeared on the screen.
It all came crashing down on him. “How did you get her?” Rauhq growled over the speaker.
“While you were gone of course. Terrible thing to leave one’s mate alone with no one to guard her.”
Rauhq growled. He should’ve had guards placed around the area, but he didn’t enjoy the fact that Jaxyhr was pointing it out to him. “What do you want then?”
“Me? I want nothing.”
“Then why take her?” Rauhq slammed a fist on the table. Jaxyhr was playing a game with him.
Jaxyhr turned the camera back to Anara and went to stand behind her. “Because torturing her will torture you.”
Rauhq gave another growl. “I will find you Jaxyhr.”
“But will you find me before your child is born? Maybe I will take the child, and he can know a lifetime of fear and loneliness.” The screen clicked off.
Rauhq took in a couple deep breaths. Now wasn’t the time to lose his temper and wreck everything in sight. He needed to think clearly about this.
He dialed up the authorities.
“What can we do for you, General Rauhq?” A Vrak’rir in a uniform appeared on the console screen.
“I need armed forces at my home. My mate has been taken from me.”
Anara glanced around the room she was in. So this was Jaxyhr. That cold hard look in his black eyes scared her beyond measure. She was pregnant and tied to a chair. She might be the champion of a Friren arena, but she was in no position to fight this Vrak’rir. She didn’t even have a weapon on her person.
Looking around the room she saw there was nothing she could use, unless she wanted to use the chair she was sitting on as a weapon, but she doubted smashing it over his head would do much. These Vrak’rir could take a beating and still be ready for a fight.
But Jaxyhr had tied her to the chair with rope, and she was hoping that she could cut through it with something, anything. She just needed to find something to cut at the rope. The dark room appeared empty.
Tipping the chair over she landed on her side with an oomph. Using all the strength she had she bounced the chair across the ground as she searched for something she could use. As she took another bounce, something cracked under part of the chair.
Anara ran her hands over the ground and found a piece of glass.
“This should work.” She whispered to herself. Taking the shard of glass, she rubbed it against her ropes. She had no idea how much time she might have before Jaxyhr came back.
The rope broke free from her wrists, and she leapt up only to stabilize herself against a wall. She hadn’t moved from that position on the chair for at least a day, and her limbs tingled as blood flowed back into them.
After a second to balance herself, she made her way around the room and found the door. Opening it slowly she took a look outside into a dimly lit corridor. This might be a long shot. Anara had no idea if she was in space and on a ship or somewhere on Vrak.
But she wasn’t about to find out by just staying in this room. Anara made her way into the hallway and made her way to the other end where another door awaited her.
Opening the door, she peered around the next empty room. Had Jaxyhr really left her unguarded? Was it because she was a human woman or because she was about to burst?
Either way he had a surprise coming his way.
She made her way to the next door, and when she opened it she was greeted with the sight of the outside world. She watched as the bluish leaves of the trees blew in the wind, so at least she knew she was on Vrak. It was the only planet she knew of that had bluish leaves on the trees.
Time to get going and hope Jaxyhr hadn’t set any boobie-traps out around the small compound.
Hours had passed since she’d left the compound, and she couldn’t take another step. Maybe Jaxyhr was right about her, now that she was pregnant. She had to make it to a Vrak’rir town or city to get to any sort of safety. Right now she was still trying to make her way out of the forest, and she had no idea in which direction to head.
All she could hope for was blind luck to lead her in the correct direction.
Anara settled down against a tree trunk and let out a sigh as her feet basked in the break she was giving them.
“Settle down now.” She patted her stomach in a reassuring manner, as the baby gave a few kicks. “Running from Jaxyhr may not have been the wisest decision.” She confided in her stomach.
For all she knew, she could go into labor right here in the woods or she might die from starvation or dehydration. Then again, she may have died with Jaxyhr.
“Let’s just hope I made the right choice.” She settled down for a quick nap. She needed to keep moving, but she also needed to reserve the energy she had.
The snap of a branch woke her. Startled Anara jumped to her feet and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place and there was no enraged Vrak’rir coming for her. It had to have been an animal. Hopefully, a very small animal, because she was weighed down by nine months of baby making and without a single weapon.
“Time to get moving I suppose.” Anara whispered down to her stomach.
A couple more hours passed, and she found herself stopped by the raging river in front of her.
“Great.” She mumbled as she took in the fast paced water.
Anara stuck a leg into the water near the bank and almost lost her balance as the pounding river rushed past her. “Ok then. Not through the river.”
She looked up the river and saw more forest, and then looked down the river and only saw more river. Anara frowned, but decided to follow where the river flowed. Maybe it would lead her to a town or city. But at least it was a source of water for her.
Rauhq looked out the window of the shuttle to the forest below them. The Vrak’rir authorities had been able to trace the call Jaxyhr had placed, and they were now heading to those coordinates.
He was coming for her, and he wouldn’t spare Jaxyhr. If anything, Rauhq might just draw out Jaxyhr’s death for what he’d done. He hefted the pistol in his hand, checked the power level, and then holstered the weapon again. And if it came to hand to hand combat he also had an ax strapped to his back.
“How close are we?”
The authorities had given him the use of three ships and thirty Vrak’rir special ops. Now that Rauhq had his position as general, it meant he could now use influence to get Anara back. He already had a reason to kill Jaxyhr, but now his enemy had given him even more justification.
“About thirty seconds out.” The pilot tossed back to them. Then the pilot turned on his communicator, “Prepare the men for landing.”
Rauhq unbuckled his harness and went to stand by the shuttle door. He was going to be the first out, and he was going to be the one to kill Jaxyhr.
“Landing!” The pilot called out.
The shuttle shook and rumbled, as the thrusters activated. Then the whole shuttle vibrated and jolted as it made a sudden stop and landed.
“Doors opening!” The pilot called out, right before there was a hiss and pop in front of Rauhq. Then the door slid open, and he was out like a shot.
The three other shuttles had landed, and he had thirty soldiers following him through the woods. They’d landed in a meadow that would fit the three ships, but close enough that it took them barely a minute to get to the small compound.
“Where’s the medic?” Rauhq spoke into his communicator.
“Right here.” One of the soldiers pointed to the medic.
“I want him by my side, when we breach the compound. Anara might need him in her condition.”
The medic rushed over to his side, and then Rauhq signaled the men to move forward. As they positioned themselves around the compound, he got into position by the door.
After breaching the door, the t
roops stormed in and searched the compound. Every time Rauhq busted down a door, he expected to find Anara waiting behind it, but she wasn’t. As they came up to the last door, he braced himself and kicked the door in.
Rauhq used the light on his wristband to illuminated the room. There was a chair that was tipped over and some rope laying near it. It appeared to be the same chair he’d seen in the video.
“He must’ve moved her.”
“But where to?” One of the other Vrak’rir asked.
Frustration coursed through him, and he rammed his fist into one of the room’s walls. He had no idea. Damn, Jaxyhr.
“Were any ships or vehicles shown leaving this place?” They’d had eyes on this compound, since they discovered the coordinates.
“No.”
“Then they must be on foot.” Rauhq figured. “We’ll spread out to search in all directions. Let me know if you find either of them.”
Anara held her stomach, as another cramp raced through her abdomen. “Seriously? You picked now to come? Do you realize this is a bad time to be born?”
She kept her feet moving, until a massive cramp brought her down. Panting she put her back against the trunk of a tree. Then the sound of footsteps reached her ears. It had to be Jaxyhr. Holding her breath, she waited to see where he would come from.
Anara sucked in a harsh breath, as another cramp came from her womb. She wouldn’t cry out and alert Jaxyhr to where she was.
Then he stepped out of the forest and approached the water.
Anara tried to hold back a gasp of pain, but was unable.
Jaxyhr’s head whipped around, and then a slow smile crept over his face. “There you are. I must admit, I never thought you would escape or make it this far. I wondered what Rauhq would see in a human mate, but you have an inner strength I wouldn’t have expected.”
As he approached her, she scrambled back, but was unable to get very far.
Then chaos broke out, as the whole area filled with Vrak’rir. Anara looked around, her head turning in every direction to take in all the Vrak’rir that had surrounded her.